Island 3: Desert

The Desert island trades the forest for open sand, palm trees and a grill, watched over by two NPCs: the Tourist under the tree (afraid of a certain fish) and the Grill Master beside the grill. It hosts the main-chain Puffer Fish fight and the side boss that unlocks the Grill — the biggest economy upgrade in the game.

All nine regular Desert creatures — Salmon, Catfish, Clownfish, Yellow Boxfish, Needlefish, Bluegill, Seahorse, Bowlfish and Sea Urchin — take the Standard Lure on the regular Fishing Rod. Stock up at the local store instead of ferrying bait between islands.

Buy Standard Lures for the regular roster and the Standard Boss Lure (about $280) for the Blue Shark. For the Puffer Fish strongly prefer long-range weapons — an SMG with extended magazine or an upgraded shotgun — because the fight is decided by terrain and distance, not gun quality.

• Standard Lure stock (local store)
• Standard Boss Lure (about $280)
• Long-range weapon for the Puffer Fish

Grilled creatures sell at about 1.5x the raw price — the multiplier covers the high-end bait expenses of Islands 4 and 5, which makes unlocking the Grill the recommended first move on the island.

Find the Tourist under the tree: he refuses to go into the water because he fears a certain fish. Catch a Needlefish with a Standard Lure (an Endangered-marked Seahorse also works), hand it over to receive the Carrot, then use the Carrot as bait to summon the Puffer Fish. Kill it and give the fin back to the Tourist for the Island 4 coordinates.

💡 The Carrot is consumed on a failed attempt — a wipe means re-catching the endangered creature from scratch.

Summon the Blue Shark with the Standard Boss Lure (about $280) and defeat it — keep your distance, the spiral charge almost always connects up close. Hand the shark to the Grill Master NPC beside the grill for the Lighter; from then on creatures can be grilled at roughly 1.5x selling price.